At the January 2009 meeting of the Children’s Executive Board, Members agreed to consult widely on proposals to review the current arrangements in place which support the work of the Trust.
The Review has been necessitated by a number of key developments and circumstances, namely:
- The creation of a Unitary Council for County Durham;
- The publication of Statutory Guidance for Children’s Trust in December 2008;
- The publication of the Audit Commission Children’s Trust progress report “Are We There Yet?”;
- Learning from the experience of the Trust in operation in County Durham.
The Review focuses on three main areas:
- Governance, including membership;
- Joint commissioning;
- Support for Children’s Trust developments.
The Reports in relation to all three aspects of the Review are attached. These three documents contain significant detail and provide the context of each of the main proposals and as such you are recommended to read each report in full. However, in brief, the main proposals of each are as follows:
1.
PAPER A Governance Arrangements Children's Trust.pdf (17 pages, 160kb)
- Strengthening Executive Board Membership to include Schools, Colleges, Job Centre Plus, 14-19 Partnership, Adult and Community Services, representation from the Young People’s Reference Group and links to neighbourhoods and economic regeneration.
- Changes to Local Children’s Board membership to reflect new requirements.
- New terms of reference for LCBs with a stronger emphasis on delivery and integration.
- Strengthening the leadership role of the Chair of the LCB through the proposal that they are seconded 2 days/week.
2.
PAPER B Review of Joint Commissioning.pdf (33 pages, 181
kb)
- A streamlined approach to the application of the Joint Commissioning framework
- Commissioning activity managed by a Lead Commissioner and a Commissioning Officer.
- Membership of the Joint Commissioning Unit changes significantly.
- Changed role for the LCBs – refocused onto planning and delivery with commissioning happening centrally strongly informed by LCB expertise about local circumstance and need.
3.PAPER C Review Support Arrangements Children's Trust.pdf (14 pages, 304kb)
- Retain Countywide coordination of activity through a Children’s Trust Development Manager.
- Chairs of LCBs proposed by their agency and seconded for a minimum of 2 days per week.
- Creation of a full time Children’s Trust Locality Development Manager for each LCB to lead and drive change in the area.
- Creation of a full-time administrative officer post for each LCB area.
Consultation_Questionnaire.pdf (3 pages, 63kb)
A 4-week consultation period has been agreed by the Children’s Executive Board from 2 February 2009 to 2 March 2009.
The consultation will involve 2 elements:
1. Briefing of key stakeholders: Local Children’s boards, the PCT, VCS Community of Interest, young people and parents and the County Durham Partnership.
2. Consultation_Questionnaire.pdf (3 pages, 63kb) is being widely circulated within partner organisations requesting responses to a number of key questions.
Colleagues are requested to circulate the attached reports and consultation questionnaire widely throughout their own organisations and partnership groups and seek responses within the consultation period.
All responses should be returned by no later than Monday 2 March 2009 to:
Anita Spence
Children’s Trust Administrative Support Officer
Children and Young People's Services
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UE
Tel: 0191 383 6521
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Carole Payne
Head of Strategic Commissioning
Children and Young People’s Services, Durham County Council
